GV481      Half Unit
Political Science and Political Economy

This information is for the 2017/18 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Valentino Larcinese

Dr Marco Giani

Availability

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Political Science and Political Economy. This course is not available as an outside option.

Course content

This course examines public policy formation, political processes and political institutions. The emphasis is on introducing some key formal models to simplify and analyze broad classes of situations. Students are not only expected to be familiar with these models but also to be able to use them to solve problems of a technical nature. The course will also emphasize rigorous empirical testing of formal models. We will focus on collective action, voting, elections, interest groups, legislative organization, political agency and bureaucracies.

Teaching

20 hours of lectures and 9 hours of seminars in the MT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

There will be a reading week in Week 6.

Formative coursework

Three problem sets.

Indicative reading

D. Mueller: Public Choice III; T. Persson and G. Tabellini: Political Economics; T. Besley: Principled Agents?

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.

Student performance results

(2013/14 - 2015/16 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 34.8
Merit 37
Pass 16.3
Fail 12

Teachers' comment

Note that both student performance and course survey results are an average of three academic years but do not include 2016-17. Prof Valentino Larcinese has been teaching this course only during the last two academic years (2015-16 and 2016-17). Information for the 2016-17 academic year, however, is not reported by the system.

His overall performance during the 2016-17 academic year has been rated by GV481 students at 1.7 (where 1=best, 5=worst). Detailed results are available upon request

Key facts

Department: Government

Total students 2016/17: 37

Average class size 2016/17: 13

Controlled access 2016/17: Yes

Lecture capture used 2016/17: Yes (MT)

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Problem solving
  • Communication

Course survey results

(2013/14 - 2015/16 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 92%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

2.1

Materials (Q2.3)

2

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

2.2

Lectures (Q2.5)

2.2

Integration (Q2.6)

2.5

Contact (Q2.7)

2.3

Feedback (Q2.8)

2.5

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

43%

Maybe

41%

No

16%